Chapter 279 - 277: Family Enterprise
Inside the study.
Chen Li picked up the purple clay teapot on the desk and poured Magistrate Luo half a cup of hot tea.
He then filled his own cup, took a sip, and said slowly, "Magistrate Luo, you seem to be in a hurry."
Luo Pingyuan’s expression was sincere. "Jiang Hongxin is a Martial Arts Grandmaster, and he has the Hidden Sword Sect at his back. If he decides to return home, he will be a grave threat to us. Delays breed disaster, Senior."
"A grave threat?"
Chen Li set down his teacup and looked at Luo Pingyuan.
He wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about killing Jiang Hongxin.
’Although letting Jiang Hongxin live is indeed a significant risk.’
’But his own relationship with the Jiang Family doesn’t seem to be that close.’
’After Jiang Hongyi’s violent death, the Jiang Family was left without a leader, besieged by internal and external troubles. At that critical moment, the clan members holding power didn’t invite Jiang Hongxin back to take charge. They preferred to hand over the family’s assets to Luo Pingyuan.’
’From this, one could see that this group of vested interests within the Jiang Family was a typical contradiction: they didn’t want to give up their benefits, yet they wanted Jiang Hongxin to extend a helping hand and protect them.’
’And as for Jiang Hongxin, with the Jiang Family facing disaster and his own brother dead, his long delay in returning also suggested that he might not have wanted to get involved in this mess in the first place.’
’Therefore, killing him or not killing him didn’t make much of a difference.’
’It was Luo Pingyuan’s enthusiasm, urging Chen Li to act time and again, that put him on guard.’
As for the twenty-seven thousand mu of the Jiang Family’s land in Jingshan and the several shops that Luo Pingyuan had promised, Chen Li, though covetous, would absolutely not take the risk.
Luo Pingyuan continued, "Senior, Jiang Hongxin’s personal strength and status are undeniable. If he truly intends to return and take control of the family business, I can’t stop him, and no one can."
"At that point, not only will my promise to you of the Jiang Family’s Jingshan assets turn to dust, but he will also certainly investigate his brother’s death. The hidden danger is immense. This is a golden opportunity—once missed, it’s gone forever!"
Chen Li saw the anxiety in Luo Pingyuan’s eyes and sneered inwardly.
’This man was able to conspire with an outsider like me to plot the death of his father-in-law, Jiang Hongyi. That alone shows a glimpse of his ruthless and decisive nature.’
’His eagerness to eliminate Jiang Hongxin is likely not just to use my hand to remove a threat, but perhaps also to drag me down with him in the process.’
’A man who could betray his closest kin without hesitation, devour his father-in-law’s family assets, and then clean up all loose ends afterward... his credibility, his moral bottom line, and his methods all demanded serious attention.’
’If not for the fact that his Cultivation is still shallow and he poses no substantial threat to me, I would not tolerate him, even if he is a Court official.’
"A golden opportunity?"
Chen Li said nonchalantly, "Then does Magistrate Luo know if Jiang Hongxin is returning alone this time, or accompanied by his sect brothers and disciples?"
Luo Pingyuan froze. "That... he should be alone..."
Chen Li cut him off, a barrage of questions flying like cannonballs: "Under whom did he study in the Hidden Sword Sect? What is his master’s Cultivation level? Does he have a cultivation partner or close friends in the sect? Does he have any direct disciples? And what are their Cultivation levels?"
"The Hidden Sword Sect was founded hundreds of years ago and dominates its region. How many Grandmasters are in the sect? And how many Great Grandmasters? Are there any old monsters in the Dharma Realm living in seclusion? Has Magistrate Luo investigated any of this thoroughly?"
With every question, Luo Pingyuan’s expression grew a shade uglier.
He had never imagined that Chen Li would be so cautious.
It wasn’t that he was completely ignorant of these matters.
But there was some information he couldn’t tell Chen Li.
If he did, there was a ninety-percent chance the other man would refuse to act.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Senior, the Hidden Sword Sect is far away in Xiangzhou. It is truly difficult for a junior like me to investigate every detail thoroughly."
Chen Li’s voice grew even calmer. "Since Magistrate Luo knows nothing, then I have to ask: after we kill Jiang Hongxin, how do you intend to handle the aftermath?"
"An Elder of the Hidden Sword Sect dies outside its territory. Would the Sect not investigate? How would they investigate? And once they find out, who will bear the crime of this murder? You, Magistrate Luo, or my Lingxi Chen Family?"
Looking at the cold sweat already beading on Luo Pingyuan’s forehead, Chen Li took a sip of tea and said, seemingly at random, "Or is it, Magistrate Luo, that you’re trying to kill with a borrowed knife?"
Luo Pingyuan looked up at Chen Li, his Adam’s apple bobbed a few times, and his lips trembled slightly. "Senior is truly perceptive. This subordinate had no such intention. It was merely a lack of foresight on my part."
Having his scheme exposed to his face by Chen Li sent a chill from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Luo Pingyuan was stunned for a moment.
But he was a man of deep cunning, after all. He quickly composed himself, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and tossed the problem back to Chen Li: "Then, in Senior’s opinion, what should be done?"
Chen Li said, "Since Jiang Hongxin is returning, Magistrate Luo might as well take this opportunity to investigate everything I just asked, one by one. When to act, how to act... once you’ve sorted out all these key details and brought them to me, it will not be too late to discuss it again."
Luo Pingyuan took a deep breath, stood up, and gave a deep bow. "This junior understands. I will certainly investigate carefully and report back to you, Senior. It is getting late, so I will take my leave now."
After speaking, he didn’t dare to linger and hurriedly turned to leave.
He boarded the carriage waiting outside the mansion, and the curtain fell, sealing him off from the outside world.
Luo Pingyuan leaned against the carriage wall, his fists clenched. He looked back through a crack in the swaying curtain, staring daggers at the silhouette of the Chen Mansion.
"Old fox..."
He squeezed two words out from between his teeth, his voice low, his eyes filled with undisguised venom and hatred.
...
The end of the year was approaching.
The sound of firecrackers echoed over Lingxi, and the air was filled with festive cheer.
Inside and outside the Chen Mansion, the servants had started their work early, sweeping the courtyards, putting up paper window decorations and Spring Festival couplets, creating a scene of bustling and joyful activity.
Chen Li enjoyed a few rare days of leisure. He was no longer in seclusion, instead turning his attention to his family.
With the family enterprise growing daily, it was no longer realistic to ignore the specific details of its income and expenditures.
Furthermore, his wife, Song Ying, had gently mentioned that the family’s silver reserves were getting tight. So, taking advantage of the year-end leisure, Chen Li gathered the entire family.
He had his concubine, Liu Yun, who was in charge of the accounts, bring out a thick stack of ledgers. He planned to go through them with a fine-toothed comb, carefully sorting out the situation of the past two years.
For most of the past year, Chen Li had either been busy traveling or in secluded Cultivation, leaving nearly all household and business affairs on the shoulders of his wife, Song Ying.
As the enterprise expanded, Song Ying had begun to feel overwhelmed.
Fortunately, Shoujing and Shouyi were now three, and Shoucheng was two—that noisy age where they get on everyone’s nerves. They were usually looked after by the old nannies and maids.
Liu Yun was meticulous and skilled in Numerology, so Chen Li had her assist Song Ying, taking on the role of accountant. Only then were they barely able to manage the family’s affairs.
Chen Li first checked the family’s land holdings.
Under his own name, there were a total of 5,120 mu of land, and adding the 630 mu from Chen Yongxiao’s family, the total was 5,750 mu.
Additionally, the Zhou Family still had 17,000 mu of land in Ping County, which Zhou Shuwei had already handed over to Chen Li. In theory, he could control it, but Chen Li was in no hurry to take it over.
Most of these fields were leased to local Tenants, with only a small portion left for branch members of his clan to cultivate.
Reclaiming the land for direct management would be extremely complicated. Therefore, Chen Li planned to maintain the status quo for the time being, leaving it in the care of the Zhou Family and collecting a fixed rent.
Of his own land, Chen Li had set aside the one hundred most fertile mu of paddy fields for growing staple food. The rest of the land had all been converted to cultivating mulberry trees.
The first thousand mu of Mulberry Seedlings planted had already blossomed and borne fruit, beginning to yield a bountiful harvest.
However, the remaining 4,650 mu would not become mature groves until next year or even the year after, so this year’s total mulberry leaf production was still limited.
Apart from the local lands in Lingxi which were managed directly by the family, these properties were divided into seven parts and entrusted to seven Stewards.
In addition to the mulberry trees, nineteen supporting silkworm houses and mulberry leaf sheds were also built.
Most were built near the cultivated mulberry fields, or were village houses that had been purchased and renovated.
Currently, they had constructed 537 silk-reeling machines and 143 weaving looms.
Just to store this machinery, nine simple adobe huts had been temporarily erected.
But this was, after all, a stopgap measure.
These buildings could only be used for storage. If they were to truly begin large-scale silk reeling and weaving, the existing space was far from sufficient.
Next was grain.
Ever since the conversion from rice paddies to mulberry farms, grain prices throughout Liyang had soared.
It was only after the Commerce Association was established that prices gradually stabilized.
But even now, one stone of grain cost about two taels of silver.
Therefore, Chen Li had long stopped selling grain. At its peak, the family’s grain reserve had reached twenty thousand stone.
It sounded like a lot, but actual expenditures were already making ends meet a struggle.
For the signed household servants and long-term laborers, Chen Li had not altered their contracts despite the rise in grain prices, and continued to pay them in kind as agreed.
Long-term laborers received an annual salary of six stone of grain, while household servants received ten stone.
After all, in the countryside, for the common people, tangible grain was far more important and reassuring than silver coins.
Currently, the Chen Mansion had seventy-three household servants, and an even greater number of long-term laborers, which had at one point swelled to 347 during the silk-reeling season.
If one also counted the short-term workers hired during the busy farming season, the total number of employees easily exceeded a thousand.
It could be said that the livelihoods of a portion of the population in Lingxi and even the surrounding villages now depended on the Chen Family.
Such a large number of employees also meant enormous grain consumption.
The annual expenditure for just the household servants and long-term laborers was nearly three thousand stone of grain.
Including the short-term workers, the total expenditure last year reached 5,100 stone of grain.
Converted into silver, that was a full ten thousand taels.
Adding in the cost of several banquets and taking away daily expenses, the family’s grain reserve had now plummeted to 2,300 stone, enough to last only a few more months.
Furthermore, there was the matter of real estate.
After successively purchasing the residences of Wang Shiming and others, they now owned five properties.
But the number of people living in them was also growing.
The ten master weavers brought from the Zhou Family, along with their dependents, occupied two of the courtyards.
Liu Zongying and his daughter Liu Ruoyi, along with Sun Shouyi and other servants, lived in another.
Bai San, Linglong, Li Yuniang, Elder Zhan, and other servants shared yet another property.
Chen Li’s own family still resided in the old family home.
"We have to start a major construction project!"
Chen Li put down the ledgers and rubbed his throbbing temples, a headache setting in.
The family was growing more prosperous and numerous by the day. Especially after his eldest son, Shouheng, married and his first grandson was born, the old family home had become noticeably crowded.
Expanding their housing was now a matter of great urgency.
But as soon as the thought arose, a host of problems followed.
The construction itself wasn’t difficult. With his status as both the head of the Chen Family and the Village Chief, no one in Lingxi, or even in all of Jingshan County, would dare to give him trouble.
What truly gave him a headache, besides materials, was the silver.